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Message: <blockquote data-quote="James Gasik" data-source="post: 8781012" data-attributes="member: 6877472">The amount of time it takes to learn how to use magic is...unclear.  When we had different starting ages for characters, it was clear that it took longer for a Wizard to learn his spells than a Cleric, but this has varied a lot over time.For example, in 2nd edition, Human starting age for all classes was 16.In Spelljammer sourcebook "Lost Ships", by Ed Greenwood, one of the adventures, "The Sacred Firefall", has a young girl being sacrificed by a cult. Alathaera is a 1st-level Mage, and is all of nine years old!3rd edition starting ages are class-based.  Sorcerers, of course, require no training, and a Human Sorcerer has a starting age of 15+1d4 years.  Human Warlocks have the same starting age.Clerics, Druids, and Wizards, however, have a starting age of 15+2d6 years, which does imply this takes considerable training.However, in the Eberron campaign setting, the current leader of the c̶u̶l̶t̶ church of the Silver Flame is a 3rd level Cleric named Jaela Daran, who is all of 11!5e comes with no rules for starting age, of course, leaving it up the DM to decide.  In 3e, Nobles are trained in the use of weapons and armor, which would certainly take some time.  IMHO, there's no reason to believe that a noble trained in magic instead of warfare, would be unable to learn the ins and outs of diplomacy and statecraft as well.In 5e, in fact, the Noble background is allowed for members of all classes, so the idea that a noble would have no time to learn magic seems at odds with the character creation system presented in the PHB.Any arguments about nobles and heirs not having the time to learn magic is pretty much subjective.Whether or not nobles in a given campaign would be inclined to seek out magic or skill at arms is still debatable, but my question is, why not both?Since magic and skill at arms are both equally useful, if you have extra heirs laying around, it would behoove you to train them in whatever skills they have talent for.  As I recall, second born sons were often sent to join the clergy in Europe, to be recalled if they suddenly find themselves needing a backup heir?And this discussion hasn't even touched upon other races yet, which have their own traditions- Elves often pursue magical careers, and the Drow, rather infamously, have female rulers who are Priestesses!</blockquote>

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